This might be the one of the most beautiful places we ever stayed in! Mr. Shimizu, the owner, is a lovely and very interesting gentleman. Not only he is a great host who has continued the legacy of his family with this unique and very beautiful Ryokan - a magical place with charming traditional rooms and an osen with a Japanese garden. He has a great collection of books and records that he generously shares. His staff is very kind and professional. They picked us up at the station with a welcoming and warm big smile. The village is stunning and the property is in between a mountain and a river. What can we say, it was very hard to leave this paradise!!!

Hands down the best experience I’ve ever had in Japan, and I lived in Japan for a whole year in the past and have travelled a lot around the whole country. This gorgeous ryokan is located in a stunning hidden gem: yu no hira. I visited Yufuin during the day and it was very busy with tourists, not an authentic Japanese experience despite being pretty with lots of nice shops. I took the train and it was only 2 stops (15 min) to Yu no Hira where this inn is located. The amazing host picked me up from the train station and it was all arranged via booking.com messaging service, so no need to call a Japanese number. The host is an amazing older Japanese man who provided top class service and the building is so beautiful. The town is a historic onsen town and quite rural - I really felt like I was getting the true experience of Japan unlike the big cities or more tourists hot spots. I met some locals at a nearby restaurant because the inn doesn’t offer food due to lack of staff. The town is lesser known and clearly struggling due to lack of tourism (despite the boom of tourists in more popular spots) but it’s the most stunning Japanese village I’ve ever been to - even more than kurokawa onsen because it really feels like real Japan. I walked around and visited a stunning shrine in the mountain, and enjoyed the evening lanterns that light up the whole place at night. I wore my yukara and geta sandals to explore and felt like I was in a ghibli film!! The ryokan is kept pristine and my room was incredible - I had so much space just for me and a cute area to sit with views of the garden that was just so peaceful, even in the rain. The garden has a pond and you can walk around and admire the stunning nature of rural Japan and listen to the birds, frogs, and other insects. Not to mention the two onsen that are in this inn, including a stunning cave onsen.

Absolutely nothing - everything was 110% and beyond what I would ever expect from a hotel. And the price is SO good considering the service and quality of the hotel!!

Nice ryokan Exceptional possibility to use one onsen as a "private" onsen because there were only a few people staying that night. It was the first time I was offered this in many many stays throughout Japan.

While the ryokan is beautiful in itself, I feel like the pictures and presentation are not as honest as they could be. I specifically paid for a superior room because the pictures made it seem like the windows opened on beautiful vegetation. In fact I had a room that opened on a very noisy river + a modern building on the other side. They do show it barely in one other picture, but that's not the main picture used to advertise the rooms. I was quite disappointed. Also, the description said "includes a shared bathroom"… Reading quickly I thought "includes" meant we had a private bathroom. I don't mind shared bathroom in ryokans, as they are beautiful onsen, but the wording seem deceitful.

What a lovely location, situation along a stream in a secluded valley. The staff were very helpful. The cave onsen was great fun and mostly in good condition. The room was large, with a living/sleeping area, a sitting area with of view of the stream, and an extra room to the side. Except for the draftiness in mid-winter, the room was nice, and we would come back again, but not in winter.

The ryokan is somewhat old but in good condition. However, the typical Japanese-style construction means that the room is drafty in the wintertime, and while we were there in mid-winter, the room was pretty cold even with the heater on all night. We would highly recommend this ryokan, except for wintertime.

Fantastic stay at Shimizu Ryokan. The onsen was great and we even got the opportunity to use the large common onsen alone as a couple. The staff would drive us to the train station whenever we wanted to visit Yufuin and picked us up. The room was confirtable and we had everything we needed. I really reccommend Shimizu Ryokan to anyone wanting a onsen experience in a quiet and peaceful place. The village was small, but charming. If you want more resturants, Yufuin is close by train.

Well, not quite sure how but we got the best room in the place. Six tatami bedroom with an eight tatami living room, terrace onto a private zen garden, and en suite toilet. The onsen are great, with a large shared onsen inside a cave (gender segregated), and a private bath available by booking. The bar with an open fire is a great place to relax after the onsen.

Be aware there's only one restaurant in the village, to get a choice of to eat out of hours you'll need to travel 10km. We had a car so it wasn't a problem but if you're planning to use taxi or public transport be prepared.

Shimizu Ryokan is so charming. Their service was great and all staff is super nice. Not great standard like chain hotel but they provide all the service from their heart. So, in my opinion, it's so charimg and beyond the experience I've ever met. Also, the cave onsen is amazing, and beautiful. Around Ryokan ia so natural. Even we've a little bad luck that there's some construction but look over that point the town is so natural we can hear river sound with a lot of tree and mountain. Just like we are in some real scenery of rl Studio Ghibi animation! Transportation was far from Yufuin around 2 stations. Train schedule is around every 1 hour from Yufuin station with not much convenience public tranaportation. Don't worry, we may request owner to pick up from Yunohiro Station. So, if you well manage your time, I'm surely that would be very easy to access the ryokan Hope I could have a chance to return back and stay longer next time.

Amazing stay! The Yunohira town is quiet and beautiful, so as the hotel. The cave onsen is definitely different from those we’ve been to. Shimizu sann was very kind to us and gave us ride from the hotel to the station everyday. As we learned the hotel was opened 98 years ago and it’s almost its 100 anniversary! we hope to visit here again in the autumn or winter time to enjoy the different views.

Mr. Yoshi and his staff were so helpful, they went out of their way to make things easy for us. Clean and comfortable. Also, the best onsen!!! Right next to the Ryokan, the water flowed down the hill and was right outside our window. If you want a peaceful and beautiful environment, this is the place. Worth it!

No negatives, nothing to complain about.

We are really pleased to had the opportunity to enjoy your Ryokan and surroundings of Yunohira. We have fulfilled our dream of spending some days in the real onsen and so much beautiful, calm place. We would like to express our gratitude for your hospitality and so valuable help.